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Some of the biggest names in Australian racing got together to ‘tell a few lies’ at the eighth annual legends of motorsport reunion on the Gold Coast.
The annual reunion was reignited 12 months ago after a couple of COVID-affect years and was moved to a new venue, the Parkwood International Golf Club, for this year.
The gathering organised by motorsport stalwart and local Hope Island resident Ian Maudsley alongside his wife Val, who both spend months every year pulling all the elements together for a successful event.
While the event guest list read like a who’s who of Australian and international motorsport, the highlight of the day was a one-on-one interview with 1967 Bathurst winner turned renowned team owner, Fred Gibson.
Now 82, Gibson talked about how he was a late replacement for Frank Matich as Harry Firth’s co-driver in a Falcon the 1967 great race.
The car started on the front-row beside the sister car of Leo and Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan.
The Geoghegan’s car was actually waved over the line in first place, but a recount of the laps after a scoring error saw Firth and Gibson handed the winners’ trophy.
“The first time I met Harry [Firth] was on the Thursday of the event and I knocked on his caravan door and he answered in his pyjamas,” recalled Gibson.
“The [Geoghegans] might have taken the chequer, but Harry knew exactly what was going on.”
Gibson, a member of both the Supercars and Motorsport Hall of Fame, went on to talk about how Howard Marsden handed him the keys to the Nissan factory touring car team in 1984 and how it developed into the powerhouse of Australian touring racing in the early 1990s with the infamous R32 Skyline GT-R.
The annual reunion was developed eight years ago when Maudsley and some racing mates gathered to toast former motor racing ace Leo Geoghegan after not being able to attend his funeral.
Maudsley was involved in the sport as a mechanic for several leading teams in the 1970s and 1980s.
While an invite-only affair, the reunion has evolved into one of the biggest annual gatherings for the sport in the country.
This year’s event was made possible through the generous support of Gwen Cooke, the widow of former racer and Bathurst class winner Digby Cooke, Stirling Ashby, Greg Ross and Michael Stillwell.
“I think it was the best one [reunion] we have had yet,” said Maudsley.
“So many people made such an effort to be here and it is always worth it when the stories and a few ‘lies’ start.
“It was great to have so many people from all aspects of the sport here today and for so many of their partners to be here with them.”Legends get together for annual motorsport reunion
The guest list read like an honour board of Australian motorsport.
Former touring car drivers included Dick Johnson, John Goss, Allan Grice, Colin Bond, Charlie O’Brien, Graham Moore, Kerry Bailey, John Smith and Kevin Bartlett.
The latter also headed up a list of former open wheel aces including Bruce Allison, Warwick Brown, Spencer Martin and Syd Howard who won the first open-wheel race at Warwick Farm in Sydney in 1960.
Inaugural 1965 Bathurst winner Barry ‘Bo’ Seton was also a special guest.
Images: 2023 Annual Australian Motorsport Reunion.
Engineers, mechanics, team owners, administrators and promoters were also well represented and included Ross Stone, Ron Harrop, Ralph Bellamy and his wife Anne, Roland Dane, David and Joy Harding, Mick Webb, Phil Grant, Brian Gelding, Bob Gaydon, Russell Stuckey, Graham Sellers, Bob Riley, and Ed Mulligan.
A list of two-wheeled guests was headed by New Zealand gun Stu Avan and local ace Paul Feeney.
Veteran media attendees included Ray Berghouse, Glenis Lindley, Paul Cross, and legendary Channel 7 commentator Garry Wilkinson.
“This really is one of the highlights of the year for many of us,” said Allison.
“Ian and Val [Maudsley] do an amazing job every year and we all appreciate the effort they make to get us all together.
“It is great to keep adding to the guest list each year from all areas of the sport and new fresh faces as well as the older ones we just enjoy catching up with every year.”
